Among the five Best Actor nominees at this Sunday’s Academy Awards, there’s one person who should have been sitting in the Kodak Theater long ago. At long last, Gary Oldman, one of the actors whose lack of awards recognition has long been lamented, gets to book a tuxedo and a limo, and call himself an Oscar nominee, thanks to his superb, understated performance as George Smiley in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.”
So now that Oldman has got his long-awaited nomination, who’s next on the hitlist? As part of our coverage in countdown to the Oscars, we’ve picked out five actors (along with a slew of honorable mentions) who have also somehow gone their careers without ever picking up Oscar nominations, despite turning in a number of acclaimed performances. Could any of them follow Oldman to glory? We’ll have to see in the next few years. And once you’re done here, take a look at our list of the actress who are also overdue for Oscar recognition.
Guy Pearce
Nomination-Worthy Roles: Ed Exley in “L.A. Confidential“; Leonard Shelby in “Memento“; Charlie Burns in “The Proposition”
Why Has He Never Been Nominated? His great roles were never exactly Oscar material, bar “L.A. Confidential,” but that film had showier, less subtle performances to honor. His early 00s sojourn as a leading man (“The Time Machine,” “Count Of Monte Cristo“) probably derailed things a little too.
Chances Of A Future Nomination: Pretty strong, actually. “Animal Kingdom” and “The King’s Speech” put him on the comeback trail, which was topped off with an Emmy win for Todd Haynes‘ “Mildred Pierce.” And he’s got several high profiles on the way in the coming year, with a cameo in “Prometheus,” the lead in Drake Doremus‘ next film and what we hear is the stand-out performance in “The Wettest County.” Unless “Lockout” puts him on the action movie route, this could happen soon.
John Turturro
Nomination-Worthy Roles: Pino In “Do The Right Thing“; Bernie Bernbaum in “Miller’s Crossing“; Barton Fink in “Barton Fink“; Herbie Stempel in “Quiz Show“; Jesus Quintana in “The Big Lebowski”
Why Has He Never Been Nominated? Hard to say. He won Best Actor at Cannes for “Barton Fink,” and was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Globes for “Quiz Show,” but when the Oscars came, co-stars Michael Lerner and Paul Scofield were nominated instead. We suppose his golden era with the Coens pre-dates their awards circuit breakout with “Fargo,” and “Do The Right Thing” was mostly ignored by the Oscars, but it could also be he’s too much of a chameleon to really register.
Chances Of A Future Nomination: Middling. The bulk of his work in the last decade has been paycheck stuff in Adam Sandler movies and “Transformers,” jobs that pay for his directing work. But should he reunite with the Coens or Spike Lee again for a substantial part, he could end up back in the spotlight.
Another actor who should've been nominated for Oscars is Ewan McGregor. He should've been nominated for: Best Actor:
Trainspotting (1996)
Moulin Rouge! (2001)
Beginners (2011)
The Impossible (2012)
Best Supporting Actor:
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)
Black Hawk Down (2001)
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005).
Ewan McGregor should have won 3 Academy Awards: for Best Actor in Trainspotting (1996) and for Best Supporting Actor for Black Hawk Down (2001) and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005).
Hey, my thinking is, if Alec Guinness could get an Oscar nomination for the original Star Wars, and was in the last two for a couple of minutes in each, why wouldn't McGregor, who helped add more depth to Obi-Wan Kenobi over three films, get an Academy Award, or at the very least a nomination?
Not trying to say Guinness was bad as Kenobi, he was phenomenal, but McGregor did help give Kenobi more depth that, while it wasn't asked, did help bring Obi-Wan more importance and you liked him more as you saw him develop in the three films. Also I believe McGregor's Kenobi becomes Guinness Kenobi.
Very good list, I see no one has mentioned Sir Patrick Stewart.
Damien Lewis deserves a few…
Jeffrey Wright (anyone who can play MLK, Jean Michel Basquiat, Colin Powell and Belize so convincingly deserves hardware)
I strongly second Anthony Mackie and John Goodman!
And what about Armand Assante? From Q&A to Mambo Kings to other oh so many stellar Oscar-nomination-worthy performances. And please let's not forget Ed Harris who deserves to take home one real soon.
Great list. Only additions I would add are Brendan Gleeson, Alan Rickman and under the "Probably Too Young To Be Called Overdue" category: Paul Dano and Ewan McGregor.
I think Hugh Jackman is a really great actor who just hasn't been very clever at picking his projects. He's got a lot of talent. He was amazing in The Fountain!
Guy Pearce should have been nominated for Priscilla!!!
3 words GARY FREAKIN OLDMAN!!!!!!
Steve Martin, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig, Leonardo Di Caprio, Kermit The Frog, Jim Carrey, Donald Sutherland, Keifer Sutherland, Alan Rickman, Ray Liotta, Bruce Willis, Ewan Macgregor, Sam Rockwell, Tom Hardy, Michael Fassbender, Joseph Gordan Levitt, Cillian Murphy, Michael Caine (?), Samuel L Jackson (?), Gary Cole & JK Simmonds.
Let us not forget Val Kilmer. The Doors, Tombstone, The Salton Sea and Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang are a few tremendous performances that come to mind.
SAM FUCKING ROCKWELL!!!!!
Yes! Two favs of mine are in this list: Steve Buscemi and John Turturro. But really, of these five the one who should have received the award already is Sutherland. Don't forget his performance in Novecento by Bertolucci, brilliantly gruesome as it is…
I think Goldblum most deserved one for The Fly.
Out of curiosity I googled the trailer for Adam Resurrected (which indeed looks crazy), and it actually says "Academy Award Nominee Jeff Goldblum". Weird.
Tuturro in Barton Fink is up there with the best of the '90s
Turturro, yes! When is he not awesome? Even in the cheesy comedies he does every now and then he's always the best thing in them.
ah, totally rooting for Guy Pearce and Jim Carrey to get their nods someday. Since Guy Pearce starred in 2 Oscar winners back to back, he could follow John OâReillyâs path by starring in 3 best pic nominees.
Anthony Mackie was pretty great in "Night Catches Us."
Martin Sheen over EVERYBODY. Dude needs an Oscar nom ASAP.
Adam Resurrected is AMAZING. Great piece, Oli.
Good picks. Let me add Alan Rickman ("Die Hard"), James Gandolfini ("The Sopranos") , Ray Liotta ("Goodfellas"), Bruce Willis ("Pulp Fiction"), Andy Serkis ("The Lord of the Rings"), Daniel Craig ("Road to Perdition"), Ewan McGregor ("Trainspotting"), Sam Rockwell ("Moon"), Mads Mikkelsen ("Pusher II") and then young actors such as Tom Hardy ("Bronson"), Michael Fassbender ("Hunger"), Ben Mendelsohn ("Animal Kingdom") and Joseph Gordon-Levitt ("Brick").